Wanna learn more about the ingredients in your haircare or are the beauty buzzwords flyin' over your head? Keep an eye out for our monthly feature Into It, discussing errything you need to know about beauty's hottest ingredients, beginning with Biotin.

What is biotin?

Biotin is a water-soluble B vitamin. You might have heard people refer to it as vitamin B7 or vitamin H, but most of the time it now goes by the name biotin.

Naturally you can find the vitamin in loads of food, like egg yolk, liver and yeast. We love it because it helps your body convert carbs and fats into energy (for hitting the gym or running to catch the next tube, super handy).

You'll have heard the word cropping up a lot recently, thanks to it being a key ingredient in loads of brand new hair and nail treatments, so we obvs had to delve a lil deeper and to help us understand just why everyone's obsessed with it. And it's gotta be better than kale, right?

Do I need to take biotin supplements?

As you can find biotin in pretty much any food ever, it's gonna be pretty unlikely you'll need to take any extra vitamin tablets or supplements. Your recommend daily amount for most adults is 30 micrograms, but this goes up to 35 micrograms for breastfeeding women, as according to the National Academy of Medicine.

However, in the event that you are deficient in biotin, you may experience:

• a rash around their eyes, nose, or throat
• eye inflammation
• hair loss
• tiredness
• hallucinations
• burning in your extremities

As biotin helps to create useful energy for your body, it's been linked to promoting growth for your hair and nails, however there aren't too many scientific studies to back up these claims.

What does biotin do for your hair?

Although there are loads of factors that can help to promote hair growth, there are plenty of biotin hair products available, claiming to kill the hair game and give you mermaid hair in one use.

With no studies to back this up, it's hard to say that a biotin shampoo will make your hair grow. However, using biotin haircare as part of a healthy haircare routine and diet should help to promote growth.

Best biotin shampoo, conditioner and hair masks